Christian parents who have a godly care for the welfare of their children may well be concerned when the time comes for the children to go to school with all its dangerous influences. On the one hand, there stands the divine instruction to “bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:44And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4) JND), and, on the other hand, there is the system of compulsory education which turns them over to the ungodly (generally speaking) for much of their “admonition” or instruction.
We should not underestimate the evil influences which are brought to bear on our children in the schools and colleges. Instead of the instruction of the Lord, the very Word of the Lord will be called in question and deliberate attempts will be made to shake their faith in God and the Holy Scriptures. They are taught to reason and then, by that process, to reason away divine inspiration and all that it reveals. The number of young people who come out of schools and colleges with their faith shaken is staggering. These English-speaking countries feel superior to third-world countries and yet are laying the groundwork for the same type of “overthrow of God” by the concerted undermining of the faith of the younger generations.
Strife for Greatness
Besides this danger to their faith, the influence of the world’s teaching tends to obscure the Christian’s hope and calling. The whole system of the world’s philosophy is calculated to instill pride and imbue with the spirit of aggrandizement, or, in other words, it fosters and promotes the idea that each one should strive to be great in this world. There is not the least thought given to the fact that a Christian is called out of this world to live for the Lord Jesus and to wait for Him. Such a thing as a Christian’s learning in school what he needs to know in order to earn an honest living while he is going through this world is never considered. Of course, we should not expect anything else from the world; “they are of the world: therefore speak they of the world” (1 John 4:55Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (John 4:5)); Satan is its god and prince and he makes good use of the whole educational system to further his ends.
The Moral Atmosphere
Another grave danger that besets the young in schools is the moral atmosphere. In some places this has deteriorated to an alarming degree, and dear young people from Christian homes are subjected to hearing and seeing filth and corruption. As the end approaches, the character of the “days of Lot” will be more in evidence; we know he was daily “vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked,” and his children were deeply influenced.
The Preparation of Moses
But is there no solution for this dangerous and serious problem? Yes, there is. We can always go to Scripture and find precepts and examples that will help us in our troubles. In this instance we cite the case of Moses. As many would have viewed it, he was born at a most inopportune time; the children of Israel were slaves and made to feel it deeply. They were not free to do as they knew they should; they were entirely at the mercy of the ungodly (except for divine intervention), and an edict condemned Moses to death in the river. It was probably the worst time in all the history of Israel for a godly Israelite to bring up children, and Amram and Jochebed must have had great exercises and searchings of heart before God.
We believe that the answer is fully given in the divine record of Moses and of his parents. We see the faith of Jochebed in Exodus, and it is commended in that great chapter of faith — Hebrews 11. She was not disposed to accept things as they appeared, but went forward in faith. She carefully hid her son as long as she could, and then she had her faith richly rewarded by receiving him to bring up for a time in the surroundings of a God-fearing home. What could she do with these precious years while she brought him up? Would she make use of them to instruct Moses in the truth of God and give him a perspective that no college of Egypt could ever erase? It was not that she sought Egypt’s wisdom for him, but if he must have it, she must diligently use the intervening time to bring him up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and she must also count on God to open his heart and make the good seed bear fruit. At last the time came, and “when the child was grown, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son” (Ex. 2:1010And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. (Exodus 2:10) JND).
The Influence of School
The next word about Moses, in point of time, is found in Acts 7:2222And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. (Acts 7:22): “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” (Truly the wisdom of Egypt was great at that time.) But all the influences of the schools and palaces of Egypt could not efface the truth that had taken root — truth about God, about Israel, and about Egypt. So aware of the real facts was he that he deliberately “forsook Egypt” and all that pertained to it. He counted his association with the despised people of God of more worth than the passing glory of Egypt. We feel that much credit must go to his mother who evidently had fortified him against all the seductions of an Egypt that was opposed to God and all that was of Him. He was not moved by the dazzling spectacle of Pharaoh’s court, but chose to identify with the oppressed slaves. He was not swayed by the false heathen theories of creation, but under divine inspiration wrote the facts of creation, Genesis 1, that have withstood a thousand varying notions to the contrary.
Natural Prudence
Natural prudence might have sought to find an Israelitish school in Egypt which would have the approval of Pharaoh, but which would shield Moses from the evil teaching of paganism and infidelity, and also keep him from the moral corruption of Egypt’s institutions. But for such a school to have Pharaoh’s approval, it would have had to accommodate the hopes of Israel to the schemes of Egypt, and they were irreconcilable. A school of this type would never have prompted Moses to forsake Egypt, but rather would have taught him how to get along and advance in Egypt rather than to leave it. And so with us; shielding our children from infidelity and immorality would seem good, but if in doing so they are taught to receive the world’s philosophy of achievement and success, we protect them from one danger but expose them to another vortex of the world that leads to the destruction of their Christian testimony and happiness, and to the Lord’s dishonor.
Prepared for the Threefold Evil
We might well take a lesson from the building of a great dam or some great wall. Before it is built, the engineers carefully calculate the amount of pressure the structure will have to withstand. Then the foundations are made sufficiently strong to carry the weight, and the whole is carefully reinforced and buttressed to meet all the demands that will be placed upon it. In like manner, we should measure the threefold influence and pressure of infidelity, worldly philosophy, and immorality that will come against our young people, and then see that we carefully prepare them to meet it. We should not attempt to do it in our own strength, but, confessing our weakness to God, seek His help and guidance. It will be a constant duty to them and before the Lord, all the time they are in our homes and under our influence — not just the work of a day or a year. And they need to see that these precious things are the principles that actuate us, and that we are “persuaded of them” and that we confess that we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:1313These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)). May our dear young people, then, be fortified and prepared for the threefold evil which they will surely meet.
1. May they be firmly rooted in the truth of the Word of God and its divine inspiration throughout, that they may stand in the wisdom of God and not of men.
2. May they always remember that we who are saved have been delivered from this present evil world and are waiting for our blessed Lord to come and take us to our inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and may they remember that all the glory of this world will come to nought, while he that does the will of God shall abide forever.
3. May they be deeply impressed with this solemn truth: God is “holy, holy, holy,” and He has said, “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” so as to “abhor that which is evil” and turn away from the least touch of that which defiles.
Adapted from P. Wilson